Bex & Simon's blog

August 14, 2008 by Bex

We approach our last lesson with a certain amount of apprehension as we don't feel at all ready to practice on our own for the next few weeks!! Once kelly starts talking about the big day, how we do our entrances etc I start to have minor palpatations.

Don't get me wrong, we know the dance. We do it in our sleep, in our heads whilst waiting for the bus, and in a room with loads of vents on the floor at the bbc. The cleaners love coming for a gander!!

So the last lesson brings lots of shouts of "head, shoulders down, look at each other". Note to self, must improve seductive angry look, at the moment I think I am giving Simon evil stare so he doesn't dare look at me!!

Now, it's all about the performance, the finesse, a word we are not altogether familiar with. But we will be!! We have massive determination now and if I don't nail the leg kick and my swizzels and simon doesn't get his golf swing move right, there will be hell to pay!! We have an unconventional way of learning which involves random words being used to explain moves!!

We just need to nail the big finish now, or Simon could end up in massive pain or I might end up on the floor. Whatever happens we will at all times attempt to pretend that was what was supposed to occur! Big hands, showy hands, that will save us. If in doubt, do big hands and tango stare. Sorted.

I hope everone has a feeling of slight nausea about the big day. Today is dress fitting day for me, so mega exciting. Then we have a whole hour with ian and camilla from the show next week, which I'm sure simon and I will be lovin! I am so star struck I am like a teenager swooning over boyzone!

Actually I still do.

So t shirt making at the ready guys, we need all the support u can muster!!

August 14, 2008 by Simon

So, our last session before the Master Class and the big night. More nervous now and my nails are getting shorter and shorter.. The routine is sorted and the timing is spot on, it is now just making sure we have good posture and act it up so that we put on a good show!! Fingers crossed we can pull this off as there is no going back now but hopefully everyone enjoys it and good luck to all the others.

August 08, 2008 by Simon

So on Monday we arrived early as we were keen to show Ralf and Kelly that we knew all our moves and had improved our posture only to have it changed…. Balls.

40 mins later we had it again and were feeling much better. Posture and flamboyance is now the focus which is making us laugh as we have to be really arrogant with each other. Bex and I now have to stare each other out and I crack every time!! She has a fearsome stare!!

Other than that all good and on track… I hope.

August 01, 2008 by Bex

Lesson Three begins and we feel that we have already achieved so much, lessons one and two flew past in learning steps and making great strides...quite literally! I have just been on a cycling weekend in the Cotswolds and am having trouble sitting down, so obviously all was going to go well with trying to move my body gracefully around the dancefloor in Tango pose!

This week we had Kelly, who has a very different way of teaching to Ralph. She thought that it would be good for us to see how much we could remember of the routine - answer not very much! So as with some of the other couples, we spent a lot of the lesson going back over old ground. Hilarity when we started using words to describe the moves - Simon with his pain, no pain, pain way of remembering a dance move that looks a bit like a golf swing....

We managed to get through practically the whole lesson without dancing to the music, which was quite an achievement! Kelly would like to see more of a connection between us, so apparently from now on I need to be glued to Simon's hip. I'm sure he would not like anything better on one of the hottest days of the year than to have a sweating partner falling over him and sticking to his hip!!! He was very patient and once again put up with my moaning about my pretty shoes getting dirty!

We learnt some new moves, and re-did the start of our dance as it was decided that me putting my leg up Simon's back was one of the least lady-like moves we could ever have executed! Slight frustration at not being able to get steps right, but soon regretted my comment to Kelly about it only being lesson three when she reminded us that we only have 3 left! Mass panic which slightly subsided when we started talking about our outfits - I think the girls will have more fun with these!

Kelly reckons that all us media types have one problem, we don't listen to what the teachers are saying...and apparently our brains work faster than our bodies - so that's the problem then! Fingers crossed for lesson 4, apparently someone is coming along to teach us technique, which involves feeling like you are hanging from the top of your head and is all about strong arms. Good job Simon is strong, as some of the lunges are enough to knock even the strongest man back onto the floor - if that happens i will happily dance around and do a solo rendée (no idea how to spell that), whatever one of those is.

August 01, 2008 by Simon

Over the last few sessions the confidence has been up and down like a brides nightie and I am and happy to say that once again, it’s up!!!

Today we finished off the routine with Kelly who added a few new twists and turns and then promptly handed us over to the Simon, the “Mr Sheen” of dancing.

Simon is brought in to take our raw talent and polish it to a dazzling shine that will blind everyone on the night…! Did he…… Well, sort of. We know our moves now, so not too many worries on the feet etc but getting the posture correct, keeping the arms up and moving in ways the body was not designed for are now the key areas for us to worry about!!

This was bloody hard, but strangely it made everything much easier. Simon is such a good teacher (as they all are) and has made a dramatic difference to how we “perform” together. He is getting us to put on a show for everyone, making it dramatic and exciting for people to watch, not just plodding through our moves. We had to be really patient with each other as it was difficult to take it all in and remember it so quickly. I must say again that Bex’s patience is legendry, stuff goes in one ear and out the other with me!

The Tango is a love/hate dance and we have to get pretty close at time and Simon has got us looking into each other’s eyes which made for a few comedy moments as we have to keep straight faces. He’s also given me permission to mow Bex down if she gets in my way!! So much better being a bloke !!

Anyway, nerves and confidence building, hopefully we’ll shine for everyone on the night.

July 16, 2008 by Bex

So after a little break from the first lesson, Simon and I turned up for our first proper tango lesson with Ralph. Simon had grown a mysterious ginger beard in the meantime, but that is by the by really. We apprehensively put on our brand new dancing shoes on and set to conquering the steps of the ballroom tango. We start off with Ralph saying, "All we need to start with is a bit of walking..." - sounds nice and leisurely, shame that as the girl I always seem to be walking backwards! So we learn our first tango move - so far,so good! Then for the heads from one side to another, boom boom boom, get in! We both seem to also be able to do this - this dancing malarky is easier than it seems - maybe Simon and I are naturals! Put the two steps together and surely we are already half way through the dance routine.....

Next we are learning a box step that Simon and I are totally incapable of mastering - we keep getting tangled up and almost falling over and my pretty pink shoes now have a few black shoe marks on them! Weep weep. Another thirty or so repetitions and we are getting a bit closer to what it should be like, I must say I have a very patient partner. Unfortunately at the same time, our upper body posture is all wrong, we should have shoulders down, my hand in Simon's armpit, elbows aligned, hands together with my wrist straight, stretch my upper body like I am doing the high jump, leaning back, from the upper body not the waist.....so much to think about!! It's definately a good laugh, and we end up collapsing into laughter many times! We even had Ralph going a few times! With the box step kind of mastered, I joke around saying that my little spins (i'm sure official dancing term is not swizzles) are like a solo routine, and jokingly ask Ralph at what point in the dance Simon will be throwing me around. Not so funny when Ralph says that's what we are moving onto next....

So the start of our routine will go off with a bang. Not to give too much away, we learnt yesterday that i cannot do anything like the splits and have very weak inner thighs, and me squatting down in front of Simon and then launching myself at him did not have a 100% success rate - he didn't drop me though! Officially lifts are not allowed, but as long as one part of your body is on the floor it is not a lift, so that's fine then we are told. hmmm, considering we all spent lesson one trying not to skid on the floor, this is all a bit worrying!

All in all, we had a great lesson, a lot of fun, great to get dancing to the music, although it was slowed down from normal speed!!!! We have definately made some sort of progression from the start to the end of the lesson, and the highlight was probably watching Ralph and Simon gliding around the room - they dance so nicely together! I think all couples are already getting quite competitive so i'm sure some extra curricular practice is in order.

Am having trouble walking and sitting down today, and I feel like I have whiplash, but it is all for the greater good! After a non stop 3 hour lesson, it's to be expected. Who knows what the next lesson has in store......

July 15, 2008 by Simon

After our first lesson, which was over 2 weeks ago now, I was really worried for Bex’s toes, feet and sanity as I was terrible!! The whole experience was a little overwhelming for my small blokey brain to take in. It is used to breathing, eating, drinking and sleeping and all this one, two, three, one, two ,three and stepping in time to music was a little too much for me to handle and I was worried I’d ever get it and let Bex down. However after a relaxing 2 weeks off Bex and I hit the floor again today and with the aid of our new dance shoes, we ripped it up !!

This was our first proper lesson together (without the others) and I was pretty nervous as I couldn’t remember anything from the initial training. It didn’t help that Bex looked like a proper dancer in her new shoes, leggings and pink top and all I managed was some Jeans a T shirt and a big ginger beard… I could see her heart sink !!!

After a brief warm up we went straight into it and it amazed me how much the body had remembered. It wasn’t Fred and Ginger (I’ll leave Ginger jokes to Sean) but it encouraged us a lot. After about 2 hours we were like a well oiled machine, with only a few little bits that needed correction. As we are dancing the Tango we need to get pretty close which was a bit difficult as we didn’t know each other at all but I think Bex’s got over her initial fear (I think she likes the beard!) and now we’re joined at the hip.

This session has really boosted the confidence and we are really looking forward to the next one. I really hope the others are enjoying this as much as we are. Bring on the final!!

July 02, 2008 by Bex

Lesson One - Glad to note after lesson one that none of us seemed to have a clue what was going on!

While they taught us the cha cha cha steps, we were all sliding all over the floor, concentrating hard on just standing up! Once we got used to moving our feet in time, and got to know our partners a bit more, everyone seemed to relax into it and I think that we will all have a great laugh!

It was great to meet the professionals after watching them on tv, and I seemed to be the only one who was really starstruck but also quite bizarre to have them telling you how to position your body and dancing you around the room like you are a superstar!

They were really impressive and our teachers seem really nice too. I think they will need the patience of saints and then some, haven't quite worked out if my ridiculous giggling will be unacceptable when we really get into the training! I really felt like a ten year old, unable to control my legs and trying not to fall over.

My partner Simon was really funny, i do think he felt like he was dragging me backwards around the room! It takes us ages to get into our 'pose' to start the dance but at the same time, we just laugh about getting all tangled up and him treading on my feet! Luckily the fact i was wearing pointed shoes meant a lot of the time my toes were saved! I think this is going to be mega hard work but very rewarding and we are both up for the challenge! It's going to be really competitive, so bring it on! Can't wait to pick up my shoes....